Laszlo Hetey, Eddy Neefs, Ian Thomas, Joe Zender, Ann-Carine Vandaele, Sophie Berkenbosch, Bojan Ristic, Sabrina Bonnewijn, Sofie Delanoye, Mark Leese, Jon Mason and Manish Patel
This paper aims to describe the development of a knowledge management system (KMS) for the Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery (NOMAD) instrument on board the ESA/Roscosmos…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe the development of a knowledge management system (KMS) for the Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery (NOMAD) instrument on board the ESA/Roscosmos 2016 ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) spacecraft. The KMS collects knowledge acquired during the engineering process that involved over 30 project partners. In addition to the documentation and technical data (explicit knowledge), a dedicated effort was made to collect the gained experience (tacit knowledge) that is crucial for the operational phase of the TGO mission and also for future projects. The system is now in service and provides valuable information for the scientists and engineers working with NOMAD.
Design/methodology/approach
The NOMAD KMS was built around six areas: official documentation, technical specifications and test results, lessons learned, management data (proposals, deliverables, progress reports and minutes of meetings), picture files and movie files. Today, the KMS contains 110 GB of data spread over 11,000 documents and more than 13,000 media files. A computer-aided design (CAD) library contains a model of the full instrument as well as exported sub-parts in different formats. A context search engine for both documents and media files was implemented.
Findings
The conceived KMS design is basic, flexible and very robust. It can be adapted to future projects of a similar size.
Practical implications
The paper provides practical guidelines on how to retain the knowledge from a larger aerospace project. The KMS tool presented here works offline, requires no maintenance and conforms to data protection standards.
Originality/value
This paper shows how knowledge management requirements for space missions can be fulfilled. The paper demonstrates how to transform the large collection of project data into a useful tool and how to address usability aspects.
Details
Keywords
J. Zender, G. Schwehm and M. Wilke
Besides the technological challenge of flying a space probe for ten years before arriving at the final mission destination, one is confronted with a potential loss of knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
Besides the technological challenge of flying a space probe for ten years before arriving at the final mission destination, one is confronted with a potential loss of knowledge during this period. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the general knowledge management applied for such a mission. It aims to give details for a new approach, the video approach, to capture expertise knowledge of engineers and scientists.
Design/methodology/approach
The video approach included the visit of all instrument teams for several days, executing interviews with engineers, technicians and scientists. During the interviews a table of content (/toc/) with attached keywords was generated. The final video was transferred into a computer‐readable form and connected with the table of content. The methodology that was used to prepare and execute the interviews, the final video material and the storage and structure of the table of content and keywords is presented.
Findings
The experimenter interviews and the follow‐up work are finished. The paper finds that feedback received so far is positive and some experimenter teams use the approach for internal work.
Research limitations/implications
The existing videos are not integrated into the existing standard office environment. Another technology step needs to integrate video capture, search and play into the existing, e.g. document processing, environment. The quality of the approach is difficult to estimate as the captured information might only be used in the years to come.
Practical implications
Proof of concept is given and lessons‐learned listed.
Originality/value
An new approach is documented giving technical implementation, setup, execution and approach details. Suitable as a reference paper for any organization with similar knowledge management requirements.
Details
Keywords
Mustafa F. Özbilgin and Cihat Erbil
We introduce the notion of rainbow burning and develop the concept of rainbow washing, which draws on the concept of genderwashing, to explicate the instrumentalization of…
Abstract
We introduce the notion of rainbow burning and develop the concept of rainbow washing, which draws on the concept of genderwashing, to explicate the instrumentalization of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Plus (LGBT+) inclusion. Rainbow burning happens when LGBT+ rights and visibility are targeted through hate to divert attention from economic, social, and political decline. For example, LGBT+ rights are unjustly blamed for the decline of the social and economic fabric. Rainbow washing happens when an organization uses or instrumentalizes LGBT+ concerns for commercial and social ends. We draw on examples from unsupportive and supportive capitalist market systems and explore how rainbow burning and washing manifest in each. This chapter explores the antecedents, correlates and consequences of rainbow burning and washing in unsupportive and supportive contexts. We identify regulatory, cultural and governance measures that can be taken against rainbow burning and rainbow washing to foster LGBT+ inclusion.